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Sunday Speculation: Games & The Brain

Tim Chatfield–TEDGlobal-July 2010

This TED video is not a continuation of a case for gaming in libraries, but rather a glimpse into the discoveries about human behavior that video games are revealing. The industry, poised to reach triple the size of the recorded music industry by 2014, has been taking lessons from how people act within their virtual words, what motivates them, and what reward systems work. In turn, game designers are crafting their worlds to play on people’s expectations, their thought patterns, and what keeps them engaged. While the “laboratory” for these discoveries is online, the implications of these findings have real world applications.

As Mr. Chatfield notes in the close of his talk, game creators are now constructing virtual worlds to meet (and appease) the neurological biometrics of the brain. He makes a list of the lessons that can be gleaned from it and the real world implementations that can be used. I don’t really have a question other than wondering what other people who have viewed this think about the points it raises. So, take about fifteen minutes to watch the video and please post your thoughts below.